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Owain Arwel Hughes, OBE CBE, is one of the world’s foremost conductors. Having recorded and performed with leading orchestras including the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Philharmonic, Philharmonia Halle Orchestra and many throughout Scandinavia, his career of over forty year has seen him share centre stage with some of the world's greatest performers from Julian Lloyd Webber to Bryn Terfel, Pavarotti to Shirley Bassey, and has brought him into contact with a wide array of personalities - Prime Ministers, royalty, Church leaders and sports stars. Now, in his open, honest and entertaining autobiography, prompted by the catastrophic events of 9/11, Owain takes a look back at the events and people that have shaped and influenced his life and the occasions when, despite adversity, the show had to go on…

Sujets

Musique

Histoire de la musique

Lettres et linguistique

Biography

Autobiography

Music

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Publié par	University of Wales Press
Date de parution	15 septembre 2012
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780708326305
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	4 Mo

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Extrait

OWAIN ARWEL HUGHES

OWAIN ARWEL HUGHES
My Life in Music

UNIVERSITY OF WALES PRESS
CARDIFF
2012

Owain Arwel Hughes, 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner. Applications for the copyright owner s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to The University of Wales Press, 10 Columbus Walk, Brigantine Place, Cardiff CF10 4UP.
www.uwp.co.uk
British Library CIP Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-0-7083-2530-8 e-ISBN 978-0-7083-2630-5
The right of Owain Arwel Hughes to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 79 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
The publisher acknowledges the financial support of the Welsh Books Council.

for Jean
who has shared my life in music

CONTENTS

Foreword
Acknowledgements
List of illustrations
Prologue
1 Origins
2 Schooldays
3 Chapel, Sport - and Music
4 Decision Time
5 Getting Started
6 In Search of Work
7 The BBC and the Halle
8 From Hong Kong to Llangollen
9 Outside Broadcasts
10 The Huddersfield Choral
11 The Welsh Proms
12 Scandinavia
13 The National Youth Orchestra and Further Travels
14 And Finally Or, The Lightning Conductor
Select Discography

I first met Owain at Caernarfon Castle in July 1979, when he conducted a concert to celebrate the tenth anniversary of my Investiture. Since then, his ebullient presence on the conducto’s rostrum has become a familiar feature of many memorable events both in the Principality and elsewhere. Owain’s sure touch with large musical forces means that his concerts are often huge affairs - never more so than when he kindly conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra, a vast Children’s Choir and sixty harps at my sixtieth birthday party a few years ago!
His contribution to music in this country has been a very significant one, as the thousands of faithful fans of his Welsh Proms will testify. Less well known is his indefatigable charity work, his dedication to developing new music and his championing of underappreciated twentieth century composers such as his own father, Arwel Hughes. In the year of his seventieth birthday, I am delighted to salute him with admiration and gratitude and wish him many more years of happy music-making. His autobiography should make fascinating reading

AKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To my daughter, Lisa, for deciphering and typing my handwritten script. To Jean, Lisa and Geraint for their love, friendship and support. To David Hughes, leader writer with the Daily Telegraph , for his encouragement and guidance throughout. To Patrick Janson-Smith of HarperCollins for his direction through the preparatory stages. And to Clive Smart, former general manager, Halle Orchestra, and his assistant, Stuart Robinson.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Dada as a boy at the piano in Arwelfa, c. 1920.
2. Uncle John and Dada with Nain and Taid, c. 1940.
3. Mama, Ieuan, Delun, Owain and Dada, in 1945.
4. Delun, Owain and Ieuan in the back garden of 1 Colchester Avenue, in 1946.
5. Uncle John, Mam and Mama on the bench, with Dat, Owain and Ieuan on the ground, enjoying a picnic at Penarth Head in 1949/50.
6. Dada, Dat, Mam, Mama, Delun, Ieuan and Owain in Tenby, c. 1950.
7. Owain, Mama, Ieuan, Dada and Delun at Barry Island, in 1952.
8. Captain of cricket at Howardian High School, in the league and cup winning year, 1955.
9. Howardian School Male Choir competing at the Urdd Eisteddfod, Lampeter, in 1959.
10. Mama, Owain, Ieuan and Delun on holiday in Hastings, 1961.
11. Jean s sister, Margaret, in 1962.
12. Just married! With Jean outside Tabernacl Chapel, Cardiff, on our wedding day in 1966.
13. With Mama and Dada, in Dada s study, 1972.
14. With Jean, Lisa and Geraint, in the conductor s room at the Royal Albert Hall.
15. At EMI receiving the last gold disc to carry the original HMV label, next to the painting His Master s Voice by Francis Barraud ARA.
16. With HRH The Prince of Wales at Highgrove, in 1990.
17. With HRH The Queen Mother at the opening of St David s Hall, Cardiff, in 1983.
18. Rehearsing for the Welsh Proms with Max Boyce, Nerys Hughes, Neil Kinnock and Cliff Morgan, in 1987.
19. With Jean, Lisa and Geraint, after receiving a University of Wales doctorate at Bangor University, in 1991.
20. Conducting Shirley Bassey at Cardiff Arms Park with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and a male choir of 10,000, in 1994.
21. With Jean supporting my leg in plaster, following the Pavarotti incident, in 1996.
22. Receiving the OBE from Her Majesty The Queen at Buckingham Palace, in 2004.
23. Owain Arwel Hughes OBE.
24. With Jean at the unveiling on Shrewsbury station platform in 2004 of a plaque commemorating the composing of Tydi a Roddaist .
25. With Geraint, Jean and Lisa at Buckingham Palace, after being awarded the CBE, in 2010.
26. With Jean and our granddaughters, Clementine and Elektra, in 2012.

PROLOGUE
I t was the afternoon of september 11, 2001, forever to be known as 9/11, and I was in the final session of recording all Rachmaninov s symphonies with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in Henry Wood Hall, a converted church in Glasgow. We d put the final touches to the third symphony and I went to the room where the producer and sound engineer were sitting and we agreed that Rachmaninov s third and last symphony, was completed to our satisfaction. I was shocked to find that one of the orchestral players, who was not needed for the symphony but was waiting to play in the next piece, in hysterics, proclaiming that world war three had begun. We had one more piece by Rachmaninov to record, so I went back into the hall, and, without saying a word to the orchestra about the calamitous events unfolding in America, put down a take of Rachmaninov s beautiful orchestral version of his Vocalise . Then, during the break that followed, everyone became aware of the horrific devastation on the other side of the Atlantic.
I am in my element in the recording studio, but a break is always a welcome relief from the intense concentration and physical effort. I m very lucky not to have suffered up till now from any of the back and limb prob lems that can afflict conductors. Unfortunately there was to be neither res pite nor peace in this particular break. There was absolute chaos everywhere, with mobile phone messages and texts and groups huddled around port able radios and the one television set, everyone transfixed in total disbelief. Managers came to talk to us and there was a lot of discussion over whether the remainder of the session should be cancelled. We unanimously agreed to carry on. One of the first to speak up was an American sitting on the front desk of first violins. Finishing the session playing such a moody, evocative piece of music in such circumstances was quite surreal, creating an atmos phere I shall never, ever forget.
The scene at such a recording session can be quite revealing. We are in a converted church with warm, excellent acoustics. The sun is shining through the beautiful stained-glass windows that have thoughtfully and mercifully been retained. But, typical of an orchestra away from the concert platform and the watchful, public gaze, the variety of dress is extraordinary - some in T-shirts and jeans, some unshaven, some in shorts and sandals, anything that provides comfort in what can often be hot, testing conditions. This is a comfortable relief from the normal formal dress of a performance.
When we record in a venue away from a purpose-built recording studio like say Abbey Road of Beatles fame, a room for the producer and sound engi neer has to be found some distance away, so that no external sound interferes with their listening. They wear headphones, or cans as they are known in the business, usually have a monitor showing the conductor and orchestra, a link to a phone to communicate with the conductor, and a red or green light to show that they are actually recording. A good relationship and mutual under standing between producer and conductor is essential, and I find that once a good sound balance has been achieved and agreed upon, there s no need to go back and forth during the session to listen to every take. If the producer or I want to do another take, there s usually a very good reason for it. I much prefer, and so do the players, to utilise the time recording. It certainly keeps up the momentum, and recording sessions are expensive enough as it is. When I first went to recordings as an observer in my student days, I used to be amazed at the time wasting as conductors and soloists disappeared into the sound booth, leaving the players reading newspapers or gambling in pretty serious card schools.
The journey back to London was a nightmare, with cancelled flights and no one having the vaguest idea what was happening, or what to do about it. I now found myself in a chaotic airport lounge, so, armed with a glass of real ale, I retreated into my own private world where I could reflect with some satisfaction on the completion of a major recording project, but at the same time, like the rest of the world, I was fearful of the future. With time to spare, I found myself contemplating life s absolute unpredictability, alongside memo ries of how often throughout my career I was faced with situations, often tragic, when a decision has been taken to carry on as normal.
I had been tipped off by some airline staff that there was one plane on its way that would definitely fly to London s Heathrow Airport. Already very late, we clambered aboard